Houston Zoo anxiously awaiting shark babies to test their DNA

A female white-spotted bamboo shark laid eggs in her tank that should be hatching in the first three months of 2014. (Houston Zoo photos)

A female white-spotted bamboo shark laid eggs in her tank that should be hatching in the first three months of 2014. (Houston Zoo photos)

A female white-spotted bamboo shark laid eggs in her tank that should be hatching in the first three months of 2014. (Houston Zoo photos)

A female white-spotted bamboo shark laid eggs in her tank that should be hatching in the first three months of 2014. (Houston Zoo photos)

A female white-spotted bamboo shark laid eggs in her tank that should be hatching in the first three months of 2014. (Houston Zoo photos)

A female white-spotted bamboo shark laid eggs in her tank that should be hatching in the first three months of 2014. (Houston Zoo photos)

A female white-spotted bamboo shark laid eggs in her tank that should be hatching in the first three months of 2014. (Houston Zoo photos)

A female white-spotted bamboo shark laid eggs in her tank that should be hatching in the first three months of 2014. (Houston Zoo photos)

A female white-spotted bamboo shark laid eggs in her tank that should be hatching in the first three months of 2014. (Houston Zoo photos)

A female white-spotted bamboo shark laid eggs in her tank that should be hatching in the first three months of 2014. (Houston Zoo photos)

In early 2014, the Houston Zoo will have eight or so new additions to their aquarium if all goes according to plan.

A female white-spotted bamboo shark on exhibit there has laid eggs in her tank that should be hatching in the first three months of 2014, according to Carissa Mendoza, the senior keeper at the Kipp Aquarium at the zoo. These eggs only carry one embryo.

This shark had previously laid eggs, but they were not fertilized.

Mendoza is curious to see whether or not the female shark mated with the brown-banded bamboo shark also in the tank. If so, they could spawn an interesting new hybrid shark. If not, the shark fertilized these egss herself, which is possible.

"If she didn't breed with the male, she could have reproduced on her own, which is what we are trying to find out," said Mendoza. A DNA test post-birth will tell the tail, er, tale.

These sharks are native to Indonesia and are not an endangered species but they are classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as near-threatened, according to zoo officials.

When full-grown, these sharks can grow 3-4 feet in length. They are not the typical man-killing sharks you might see off beaches, or in tornadoes.

"These sharks are bottom-dwelling sharks, mostly active at night, resting and feeding closer to the bottom," according to Mendoza.